MENSTRUATION MATTERS

The title of this blog entry comes straight from a media release about Goodnighties® Recovery Sleepwear. That’s right, now there is finally sleepwear made out of a fabric similar to the fabric worn by “Olympians, Astronauts and Even Racehorses” to wick away the moisture of hot flashes, night sweats, and chills accompanying some women’s perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause. Using the “power of negative ions,” Goodnighties® sleepwear purportedly offers that rest, relaxation, recovery (and, ultimately, sleep!) that most midlife women are lacking! Some users are quoted on the website as saying that Goodnighties® sleepwear “changed their lives.”

One one hand, this makes complete sense — why didn’t people think of this before? Athletic clothing would help someone deal with hot flashes and night sweats in the middle of the night, if only making it so that one doesn’t have to get up and change their clothes or sheets. And considering we’re currently in a “menoboom” (Barbre, 1998), with the aging and menopause of the Baby Boomers, what a great idea to market moisture-wicking clothing to menopausal women! Talk about a money-maker.

On the other hand, while I think on the whole this is probably a good product for many, I do take issue with some of the language on the site, because of the negative connotations about menopause in particular (e.g., the emphasis on “fixing” “broken thermostats,” “suffering,” and quotes about how 85 percent of women are “known to suffer”). But, this line of clothing is also marketed towards others — those undergoing infertility treatments, “athletes, regular exercisers and weekend warriors with sore muscles,” “people with aches and pains due to injury, surgery, chemotherapy, etc.,” and “[t]hose suffering from painful health issues like fibromyalgia, arthritis and diabetes” — so, it’s not exclusively marketed to menopausal women and not exclusively designed to define menopause as a bad thing.

On another issue, though, the emphasis on relief, recovery, and fixing does make me think that this product is being marketed as something that resolves (negative) symptoms, but I’m not sure how that could be the case? Does anyone have any experience with Goodnighties® sleepwear? Is it actually capable of alleviating the symptoms, or is it just making the public manifestation of the symptom disappear?

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5 Comments

I have experience with Goodnighties – I’ve been wearing them for about six months now. And in my experience, they more than live up to their claims.

I understand your skepticism. I felt the same way, but was intrigued enough to try them. I’m already past menopause but do have problems with being too hot much of the time. My “broken thermostat” is due to fibromyalgia. I would wake up every night burning up and sweating and have to throw off the covers to try to cool down. Since I began wearing Goodnighties, that hasn’t happened once.

A key problem for those of us with fibromyalgia is that we do not get refreshing sleep. Instead of waking up refreshed and ready to face the day, we wake up feeling like we’ve been run over by a truck – tired and in pain. The first night I wore Goodnighties, I actually woke up feeling refreshed for the first time in 20 years! And after six months, I’m still getting the same result. I sleep for longer periods of time and get a deeper sleep than I have gotten almost since I can remember. As an added bonus, my pain is also reduced.

Because I serve as a fibromyalgia and chronic pain patient expert on the ChronicPainConnection health site, I try to check out the research behind a product before I consider recommending it to my readers. I thought you and your readers might be interested in seeing the research information the people at Goodnighties sent me. You can download the document at this site: http://www.helpforheadaches.com/downloads/goodnighties.htm

Oh, I should also mention that so far every person I have recommended Goodnighties to has come back to tell me how much they love them and what a difference they’ve made for them. I know I probably sound like I sell Goodnighties, but I don’t. Nor do I get any money from them. They’ve just made a huge difference in my life and I want others who have similar health challenges to know about them and hopefully experience the same kind of improvement I have.

If you have any other questions about my experience with Goodnighties, please feel free to contact me.

Heather D
on November 16, 2010 at 7:52 pm

Thanks, Karen, for sharing your experience! This is so intriguing to me that something as simple as a change of clothing could mean a qualitatively different night (and life?) for women.

Meg Madison
on November 16, 2010 at 9:24 pm

I am a Goodnighties user and find that they have helped me just simply sleep better. I thought it was hocus pocus when I heard about them from a friend. I was given a pair as a gift. I get sore from working out and I even used them once when I was getting the chills and they made me more comfortable. I love a product that can help you feel better that doesn’t involve swallowing a pill!

Love, Love, Love reading these comments! I too, join the group with my own rave
review of Goodnighties! My sister gave me a pair about 4 months ago
and I’m never going back– bought more and gave away my old stuff! .. I’m sold! LOL

What a treat to finally get some sleep! I used to have night sweats and
restlessness- couldn’t remember when I had slept through the night! I was
chronically exhausted and always sick with something! …
Now, I have new life it’s so much easier when you’re not tired- and I now really
believe if you sleep better your body will heal itself!
My family is thrilled! No more bitch-y mommy! I’ve been buying them for gifts…
they are perfect for travel too! a real find and a unique gift!
Women of the World need Goodnighties!:D

Heather D
on November 17, 2010 at 9:02 pm

Wow, I guess I have to throw away my skepticism! Thanks to all of you for the comments and I’m glad to hear something as simple as this might work to resolve some of the bodily discomforts we face!

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We are researchers in the social sciences, the natural sciences and the humanities, health care providers, policy makers, health activists, artists and students from a wide range of fields with interests in the role of menstrual and ovulatory health across the life span.